


A House on Fire

by cavalcadeCrumbling



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game)
Genre: Casual Survivor's Guilt, Fire, Gen, Major Character "Death", Mentioned is all of Jack's family and ya girl Winona, Panic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23870230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cavalcadeCrumbling/pseuds/cavalcadeCrumbling
Summary: Jack Carter wakes up to his house up in flames. Desperate for an answer, the one he comes to ends up almost a little too close to the truth. Though, to be fair, he had some help.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	A House on Fire

His house was on fire.

Jack choked on ash and smoke, collapsing onto his lawn. Breathing was the only thing he could focus on. His body had moved him automatically out from the crisping structure, only just letting him realize what was even going on now. His house was on fire. Somehow, he wasn't surprised in the slightest. As if he'd expected that one day he'd wake up and his house would be up in flames.

He hadn't, of course. Nobody expected that sort of thing.

His body shakes with a violent cough, as if the ash in his lungs could be removed so easily. He raises a hand to wipe his mouth, still mostly controlled by instinct rather than anything else. The sound of the fire crackled in his ears, but he couldn't bring himself to cover them. Instead, he had handfuls of the vibrant April grass.

The flowers he'd bought were sure to go to waste, weren't they. Horrible timing. Horrible, horrible timing. The grave for his brother would remain as empty as the coffin. What a day for this to happen. The anniversary of poor William's death. Just when he'd convinced Wendy to pick something out for him, too.

Wendy.

She was in the house! He hadn't grabbed her? How could he! Panic overtook him, but still his body refused to move. No, no, no, not her. Not on this day. Not after everything. She was the last thing he had. He'd moved out here to make sure nothing else like this would ever happen! He had to go back.

He remained looking down at the grass.

Why couldn't he move. Why couldn't he move! Out of all times! Now, now he would freeze. If he was going to freeze, why not back at the start? At least then the inferno would've taken him, too. At this rate-- at this rate he was going to be forced to live. Like someone had put a horrible curse on his family, had decided they in particular deserved to suffer. He, then, was the one who was left with the burden of living with it all.

It made sense, really. William had been far too precious, nervous but oh-so determined to make a name for himself through magic. Abigail and Wendy, they were children. Wendy had already bore the burden of her sister's death, even the most dastardly of witches would never make a child bear another. The only target for a tragedy like this could be him. He was the only one who could deserve such a thing, and the only one who anyone watching could truly find joy in seeing suffer. Death was a kindness, for the rest.

Thoroughly convinced, Jack finds himself able to raise his head. To watch the fire consume the place he'd called home for these last few years of his life. A sense of calm had overtaken him. He understood, now. His family was cursed, this was going to happen whether he liked it or not. Wendy would be happier, wouldn't she? She'd get to be with her sister now. His beautiful daughters would be together again.

As he watched the flames, a sentence lept back into his mind. It was spoken by a woman, with one of those casual American accents. He'd never really managed that. "There's always a fire when it happens. Bit dramatic, ain't it?"

Who was that? What was she talking about? He wracked his brain. This had to be important, if it was coming to him now.

Maybe she was the one that cursed him and his family. That would be important to remember, wouldn't it?

She was... she had something to do with... William. Was that his assistant? No, it couldn't be. If he knew that, surely he knew what she actually was. He was close, though, he knew it. Maybe she was related to her?

Winona! That was her name, yes. The sister of William's assistant. He remembered her, now. She'd come to the house with a suitcase. Had a serious look on her face, like she'd known what she was doing from the very day she was born. She'd thought his brother's death was part of a conspiracy, and the suitcase was full of "proof" of it.

He'd humoured her, because that was what one did when they had a guest. Perhaps, just slightly, also because he'd wanted to believe her, back then. She'd said William wasn't really dead. Just trapped somewhere. Stolen away. That there were others, but he'd been the first. She'd said she was looking for a way to get there, too, and rescue her sister.

She'd promised, unprompted, that if she did make it, and he was still there, she'd try to rescue William too. That wasn't really witch material, was it. No, she'd been a victim too. Her sister was just as gone as William was.

He'd decided later that she was just reaching, looking for any possible explanation she could find in her grief. Some of the connections she'd made were wild. But...

The vision of the flames was getting burned into Jack's mind, and his theory his family had been cursed was getting rearranged. If this Winona was right... William had been the first. Could that book of his been real? Could he have done it to himself, accidentally? Someone could curse themselves, couldn't they?

Wendy had been speaking of a tune she'd heard in her dreams. Winona, too, had mentioned that music appeared to be connected somehow. Wendy had been sure it was Abigail, but he remembered distinctly mentioning Abigail to the woman. She'd taken in the details, but came up blank. Still, she said that it could very well be related, and she just didn't have all the information yet. She'd taken a photograph of the flower Wendy claimed Abigail would possess, in one of those times it floated.

Maybe Abigail had lead Wendy to his brother. Maybe in the place where he was, ghosts could be seen by the living. It was supposed to be a place where the shadows were alive, and with that in mind such things weren't so farfetched. Maybe...

Another cough shook Jack, and he realized the smoke was stinging his eyes as much as his lungs, now. He really had just stared at the fire on his house, unblinking, sat thinking on the lawn. Rubbing at his eyes, he carefully stands. A moment longer of watching the fire, and then he's turning away.

Maybe this was okay. Maybe he should've believed that woman the first time.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing a whole bunch, but nothing I really felt like publishing or finishing. This was written specifically to be published, since I felt pretty bad just stopping with no warning.
> 
> I may or may not have a slight obsession with "those left behind", which mostly means Jack since he's really the only one we have a name for in canon.


End file.
